Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.

THE BLACK DITCH

Albion Recorder, January 11, 1999, pg. 4.

The southwest portion of Albion is naturally low and was swampy for
many years. A portion of it in the vicinity of Dalrymple School was
once a breeding place for mosquitoes and other insects. Even today,
heavy rains produce standing water in this area. This section of town
has historically been known for its rich black soil, as well as soft
mucky areas which made the streets bumpy.

A small run-off stream known as the "black ditch," so-named because
of the soil appearance, once ran through the area. It began at the
Kalamazoo River millpond just south of River St., moved diagonally
northwestwards across S. Superior, and Clinton Sts., crossed S. Eaton
St. at W. Oak St., continued across the former George Grenevitch
property and the Dalrymple School grounds, across W. Erie St., through
the Gadsen Court area, and then past Gale St. until it reached the
Kalamazoo River.

The black ditch was utilized during the great Flood of 1908, when
dynamite was used to try and free the ice jam in the millpond. The
black ditch was used as a type of water pressure safety valve by
diverting water through the ditch, and thus causing water to bypass the
city.

In 1912, the City of Albion undertook the most massive sewer project
in its history up to that time, and installed over a mile of 12-inch,
24-inch, and 30-inch tile storm and sanitary sewer pipe over the route
of the black ditch. The project was under the direction of the sewer
commissioner William Porr. The cost of the project was $8,000. The
project was financed by private assessment of property owners in the
southwest section of town through whose property the line ran, or
through owners whose streets were service by purs that ran into the
main line. This amounted to 586 property owners.

The pipe was laid ten feet underground. Workers had to dig through
several inches of sandstone with pick axes: blasting would have caused
cave-ins. Over 20 trees had to be removed, and there were right-of-way
disputes with the railroad for going under the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern Railroad tracks on N. Gale St.

The project served a dual purpose. It provided much needed drainage
for the area which was immediately evident when the line was placed
into service. It also provided modern sanitary sewer facilities to
residents of the area, thus dooming the numerous outhouses which once
dotted the landscape. The storm sewer was placed directly about the
sanitary sewer. If either became filled during heavy rains, for
instance, the surplus would overflow into the other. Numerous storm
sewer catch basins were installed which were in use until 1974 when the
repaving of S. Eaton St. resulted in larger-diameter pipes being
installed.

One place you can observe the remains of the "black ditch" is on S.
Eaton St. at W. Oak. The capped black ditch flows between the houses at
712 and 800 S. Eaton St., and moves on through the old Grenevitch
property. If you look at the street pavement, you will see a diagonal
bump across the street. That is the black ditch route. In 1974 when the
new curbing was placed on S. Eaton St. the contractors did not level
the curbing properly on the West Side of S. Eaton st., where the water
is supposed to run into the storm drain (i.e. the black ditch). Today
there always is a layer of leaves, dirt and other material that backs
up at the site of the storm drain, whose level was placed higher than
the water that was supposed to flow into it. Perhaps this quirk could
be corrected next time S. Eaton St. is repaved.

This week we present the only known map of Albion showing the route
of the black ditch. Dated 1871, the viewer can easily distinguish the
path of the black ditch. It flowed through land owned by Samuel V.
Irwin, Champion and James C. Eslow, and Silas Finley. For our readers
who live in the southwest portion of Albion and wonder why you have
shallow basements and cannot dig more than several feet before hitting
water, you can thank the black ditch, Albion’s "all natural" storm
sewer.

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